Seems like with every warm period we get during the early spring the rolling hills we seeded get greener and more lush. Last year we rented a seed drill and planted around 30 acres of Clover, Rye, Orchard Grass and Oats. We also tilled up the ground for the seeds so they can take very well. For many months they were dormant as we did this in the fall. But now with warm weather on the way the sprouts are waking up. By late April they should be fully awake.
When we planted these seeds we did not get a good rain for nearly a month, so I was worried many of the seeds would die. But seems they are quite hardy and made it through the tough parts.
Its great to see the rows of seeds have taken, and now we wait for them to become more established. Hopefully this freshly planted grass will push out the native broom straw that tends to grow in areas where other plants do not.
Probably two months from now it will be ready to mow, things can really accelerate in the spring. And we hope to get three harvests of year of this grass, as we plan on selling as hay for horses. Baling it up into smaller squares compared to the large rounds for cows we want to grow some really good grass.
I wonder out of what we planted what we reseed itself on its own, or stay dormant through the winter and come back the following year. The annual Rye grass may drop seeds, but some of the other plants are probably perennials.
These fields are all new to me, but hopefully they will be a good resource for the farm.
Many acres are ready to grow, once the freezing weather is finished I think they will be fully in their stride and becoming quite the grassy fields.
If we are lucky we will get three cuttings a year, and my foreman says he already has connections with some horse farms near by that will want to buy the hay if its good. But we will need to see the final quality of the product and judge it at that point for how well it has grown. But for now we will wait for the fields to fully wake up, and then cut, rake and bale the grass.
